RAINWATER MANAGEMENT
A CLASS APART:
BMJ chats to ACO about what merchants need to know when it comes to drainage load classes.
G
iven the country’s tendency to suffer from wet weather all year round, drainage channels are a popular item in a builder’s merchant. Often sold by the metre, and generally picked on price, drainage channels can easily slip into a ‘fit and forget’ category. However, by not taking the time to question your customer and fully consider the final application, they could quickly find themselves facing annoyed end users and having to re-do the work. Darren Cane, national sales manager at ACO Water Management, delves deeper into drainage channel load classes, and how to tell know your A 15’s from your B 125’s:
Low down on load classes In accordance with BS EN 1433:2002 all drainage channels are classified into load classes, which are effectively different categories detailing the load-bearing capacity of that product. Ranging from A 15 for pedestrian footpaths and patios, through to F 900 for airports and industrial yards, the system is a quick way of ensuring that, if your customer is fitting out a driveway or a patio, the right channel and grating is selected. However, while the load class system itself is a fairly simple specification tool to follow, it’s one that surprisingly few people are fully up to speed with.
A 15 is the most commonly used drainage channel, and a staple commodity at most merchants. A customer will tend to come in, buy it because it’s what they’ve always used, and head off to the site. If we take a
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typical scenario of a new build property or garden and driveway renovation, then A 15 drainage channels would be suitable for use on pathways and patios.
However, issues begin to arise when an A 15 channel is installed at the driveway entrance or in the middle. In short, A 15 should not be used in these scenarios as the product does not have the load-bearing capacity to withstand the pressure of a vehicle turning or parking on it. The material would buckle under the pressure and start to break apart. In this instance, a B 125 channel would be best. It is the next load class up, has a higher load-bearing capacity and comes in at only a slightly higher price per metre than an A 15 channel. Importantly, it’s generally readily available in branch alongside it’s A 15 counterpart. This is where, as a merchant, having that in-depth product knowledge can make a difference between the right or wrong product being sold.
Weakest link
Another pitfall to be aware of is understanding that the overall drainage solution is only as strong as its weakest link. Some channels are compatible with different gratings, meaning there’s a decent choice when it comes to style, material and colour. However, it’s worth keeping an eye out for those customers who may buy channels and gratings from different load classes. For example, an A 15 channel fitted with a B 125 grating will still only deliver a load-bearing capacity equivalent to that of an A 15 system. Vice versa, using an A 15 grating
on a B 125 channel will again only deliver an A 15 equivalent solution. Mixing and matching may be seen by some contractors as a way of cutting some of the cost out of a job, but ultimately it will undermine the strength of the total solution.
Devil in the detail
It’s easy for high-selling products like drainage channels to be viewed as a one-size-fits-all solution. While some larger jobs may be fully specified and detail the drainage channel load class needed, lots of smaller or one- off projects may not have that included. Therefore, if you can direct your customer away from buying a channel that may initially seem cheaper but could potentially cost them more down the line – either in reputational damage or the cost of having to retrofit a stronger channel – then you will be doing them a big favour.
Final thoughts
In short, if the merchant can turn themselves into a trusted advisor for their customers, they will keep coming back. Drainage channels might seem like a commodity product, but there’s much more to them than that. By checking their intended use with your customer, and knowing the load class and limitations of each product, merchants can ensure ther customers purchase the right drainage solution for the job. It might not seem like a big thing, but it will go a long way to keeping them, and their own customers, happy. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net January 2019
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